Christian Aid Zimbabwe – Developing Cases of Change 2026 3 views0 applications

Terms of Reference: Christian Aid Zimbabwe – Developing Cases of Change 2026

1. About Christian Aid

Christian Aid (CA) exists to create a world where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty. We are here to help end poverty, injustice, inequality and violence in some of the poorest countries across the world. We are an international development agency founded by the Protestant Churches of Britain and Ireland. We tackle both the symptoms and root causes of injustice challenging the systems and structures that perpetuate poverty and marginalisation. We work with people of all faiths and none, and work in partnership in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Ireland’s Civil Society Partnership (ICSP) Programme aims to contribute towards the achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (in particular, 5, 10 and 16); with a thematic focus on strengthening governance, promoting human rights and social cohesion and harmony within communities. A deliberate effort is made to ensure that gender equality and social inclusion are at the core of our programming.

The ICSP programme titled “Strengthening Civil Society Engagement and Participation in Zimbabwe” is being implemented with four Zimbabwean partner organisations, working across eight (8) districts (Goromonzi, Mutoko and Buhera (focused on governance and human rights in the extractive sector); Matobo, Mutasa, Marange, Chipinge and Bubi (focusing on peacebuilding, gender equality and climate change). The programme has a strong focus on strengthening the agency of Civil Society Organisations to defend the rights of civil society and to strengthen their agency to challenge injustices and hold powerholders to account.

2. Background

Christian Aid Zimbabwe and these four Zimbabwean organisations, in collaboration with Christian Aid Ireland, is implementing the Irish Civil Society Partnership (ICSP), 2023 – 2027. This five-year programme focusses on issues of strengthening civil society, land governance, climate change, adaptation and resilience, gender equality and inclusion, peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention. and is implemented in Matobo, Bubi, Buhera, Chipinge, Mutare, Mutasa, Goromonzi and Mutoko.

The programme seeks to influence meaningful shifts in the systems that create change. To accommodate this within the MEAL system, each year the programme identifies and documents several ‘cases of change’ which describe changes, and the programme’s contribution to them.

This cases of change methodology (inspired by the publication No Royal Road: Finding and Following the Natural Pathways in Advocacy Evaluation, Jim Coe and Rhonda Schlangen, 2019)

• The change/s that have occurred
• The journey to achieving the change
• The contribution of the programme to the change
• How inclusive the change is
• The change is also rated along several factors of interest
• Learnings and recommendations stemming from the change.

This year, Christian Aid Zimbabwe has tentatively identified the following three cases; these will be adapted and refined so that they better reflect the evidence (as it is gathered). Cases 1 and 2 represent the work of multiple partner organisations, and case 3 is specific to one partner organisation only:

• Case 1: Rights Holders experience greater peace and safety in public and private spheres, enabled, in part, by women’s greater leadership roles Locations Mutare, Mutasa, Matobo

• Case 2: National level Laws, Bills and strategies (in relation to a variety of topics) are advance positively, influenced by Rights Holders and ICSP partners Locations: National level (Harare) and provinces/districts Manicaland, Mashonaland East and Mat North

• Case 3: Changes experienced by farmers due to application of climate resilient and climate adaptive practices Locations: District Bubi

3. Objectives of this consultancy

To develop three documented and evidenced cases of change by:

• Review existing and gather further evidence (primary and secondary) for all three cases, analyse this information, to enable conclusive statements and descriptions of:
  • The situation before the change
  • The nature of the change (this may be amended from the tentative titles provided above)
  • The journey to achieving the change, including the role of the programme and other actors
  • How inclusive the change was (in terms of gender and one other ‘factor’ per case)
  • Lessons learnt and recommendations
• Present draft cases to partner organisations and CAZ, collaboratively review and co-develop lessons learnt and recommendations.
  • Document the three cases of change, using the pre-defined template, and incorporating the evidence gathered. It is anticipated that each case is maximum 12 pages, plus a short annex outlining the tools used, sampling, links to secondary evidence.

4. Scope

• Sampling: Sampling should balance rigor and feasibility. Purposive sampling will be completed, for each case, ensuring that a variety of voices are heard, and the change journey is understood from multiple perspectives.
  Partner organisations will support in identifying and accessing sampled parties.
• Inclusion: Women and other marginalised groups (as agreed in advance) should be well represented in the sampling, and the final write up.
• Design and implementation of Data Collection/ methodology: A light inception report will be required to ensure the consultant and CA have the same understanding of the task, to confirm sampling, and review the data collection tools. Documentation: The consultant should provide key conclusions under each of the above headings, using the predesigned CA template. Each conclusion should be well supported by evidence, which can take the form of summarised findings and key quotes. It is anticipated that each case is maximum 12 pages, plus a short annex outlining the tools used, sampling, links to secondary evidence.
• Sensemaking: the first level of analysis and sense-making will be conducted by the consultant and documented in the draft cases. CA and partner organisations will respond to these draft reports. The consultant will then enable a second level of sensemaking in a participatory workshop with CA and partners, to deepen and sharpen conclusions, discuss ratings, and identify lessons learnt and recommendations.
• Artificial Intelligence should not be used to support any aspect of this work.

5. Delivery Timelines

3rd November 2026 – Deadline for proposal submission
16th November – Contract commences
25th November – Inception report finalised
To be decided – Workshop with partner organisations and Christian Aid
31st December- Drafts, and then final, documents, as described above, with accompanying more detailed evidence.

6. Budget and Resourcing

This consultancy has a maximum overall budget of €10,000. This is to include all costs associated with the consultant’s services, travel and data gathering activities, and any taxes, as applicable. The workshop logistics will be completed and paid for by Christian Aid.

7. Environmental, Social and Governance criteria (ESG)

• The consultancy should be completed with a view to minimising any potential Environmental impact.
• Social: The consultancy will apply ethical, inclusive, and do no harm approaches, ensuring safeguarding, minimising risks to communities, and respecting local customs, cultural norms, and legal requirements during all data collection and engagement activities
• The consultant must be following relevant Zimbabwean laws and regulations, as relevant. The consultant will be asked to sign and abide by the CA Code of Conduct and non-disclosure agreement.

8. Payment terms

• Christian Aid standard payment term is 30 days from receipt of a valid and error-free invoice.
• Payment will be made in two tranches:
  • 30% following finalisation and acceptance of the inception report
  • 70% following submission of final reports
• Payment will be made in USD ($)
• The budget and agreed amount will be inclusive of all costs the consultant may incur in completing this assignment. Any costs must be agreed with CA Zimbabwe in advance and will only be reimbursed on a receipted basis. The consultant is responsible for the arrangement and payment of their own VAT or any other locally relevant taxes or levies on their income.

9. Consultant Requirements

The Consultant will be based in Zimbabwe and be able to travel to the above-described locations. The consultants should possess the following qualities:

• Demonstrated experience and understanding in the areas of civil society, land governance, climate change, adaptation and resilience, gender equality and inclusion, peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention.
• Over 10 years’ experience and expertise in gathering and synthesising qualitative data, and synthesising it to draw conclusions
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate qualitative evidence gathering and navigate sensitive and complex topics, safely and effectively.
• Fluency in Shona, Ndebele, and English. Clear verbal skills and excellent written communication skills.
• The consultant must be based within Zimbabwe, and able to access the above-described locations independently.

10. Roles and Responsibilities

10.1. – Consultant

• Development of the Inception Report for developing ICSP Cases of Change.
• Development of data collection tools relevant for Cases of Change development.
• Data collection, ensuring data quality is maintained throughout, including during data analysis and reporting)
• Participation and co-facilitation in partner workshop.
• Submission of high quality and Christian Aid approved Cases of Change (three).

10.2. – Christian Aid

• Provide overall technical guidance, key project documents and oversight to ensure alignment with consultancy objectives and global best practices.
• Review and give feedback on draft deliverables, including data collection tools and the three cases of change.
• Arrange logistics for partner workshop.

10.3. – ICSP Partners

• Provide key project documents to the consultant during desk review and data collection.
• Coordinate field logistics, including but not limited to mobilisation of respondents and access to project sites.
• Facilitate stakeholder engagements and introductions to relevant authorities.

How to apply

11. How to Apply

Interested applicants should submit their applications via email to [email protected] with the subject line clearly marked ‘Christian Aid Zimbabwe – Developing Cases of Change 2026’ by 3 November 2026.

The date for interviews will be communicated only to the shortlisted applicants.
The following application support documents would be required:

• A technical proposal outlining approach and methodology (max 2pages).
• A financial proposal indicating phase-based costing.
• CVs for the Lead Consultant and team members (if applicable) (max 3 pages per CV, focusing on related work only). CVs to include names and contact details for at least three references.
• At least two samples of recent relevant consultancy done in Zimbabwe.